Method of preserving eggs



Patented July 17, 1951 No- Drawing; Application August ,3 1, 19 5 0, SeriaI No. 182:620

6' Claims, (Cl. 937-463;)

lliis nvent on relates:- to: the. meth d: of; oreewin ssendiparticularlv butnotby wer 19 ati nz o; an; mp ov m nt in: th m thods c ff egg; reservation in a; more economical many name (i hereby.thepreservationcan be efiected ion c so n l odsoftimea lso'i p ov sthe one the egg over that provided by the prose day methods, This is a continuation? Of; my cope nding application. Serial No.

hruary25., l9 1-7, now abandoned.

been:ifounclthat after the laying; of the v I eterioration thereof, iszcontrolled mainly by; tem eratuiie and; an increase in alkalinity;

'Ilheteinperatnre controlisvariable; howeverit f:

usually. within the. limits of 32 degrees and yolk and that h Whi s ep rat d h l- 1hr a'tfilm whi h s apa fl an eteti n .nl'y' li ht.. qlorr rr on z f a wll 5m herein {ten setforthu The-white of the; egg; hasbee nundl q 0. 51 0 t-3 9 0113 of di v etent pt perti szl sa d ons in impres i n b e y l bules :vvitln'm. l(. i0u1e fmiransp rentr iellyke: whi e. matter, s sually very elicate ons ct p rt: m'svztheiyolkzin th cent r-the eof the; y lk: p ri sing;- a:. substantially: yellowish colored gran t- 131*; mas Furthermore the, 5101121,v held: 0.-=

ather by a gaseous; film: r n n he; y lk.-

between he wh test The; fi m r t e. yolk. is; of. aver-y; delicateaconstructionx allowing freedom; of, Passage of the ions; 0i gas 1 either; to or, from; the, olk as will he. her inafters t. forth.

The deterioration,ofthe eggt'starts immediately after;- thewlaying; thereof; and. as. heretofore. men: tinned; v is? controlled; mainly by: temperature The increase of alkalinity is causedbylthezburstin; oi! the: globules in: the whitev of; the egg. to

releasethe gas}. ionsr causing: them to pass:

through the: gaspfilm: to the yolk. During the. transposition of the ions. from the white. to. the, yolk. other: nonees'sential' ions; mostly: of acarbonic, or nitrogenous: nature, are displacedlort dispeilecl-- fIQlTlLthB-01k outwards through; the, eastat:

I entitled Method of Preserving Eggs, 31!

The l ino attereous: film: andcontinue through the sponge; like pores of the white-until: they strike: the heavy; outer film adjacent the shell. In view of this action, it iswell known that in order to preserve the egg it becomesnecessary to changeits. gaseous. par-tsto; solids, usually accomplished. hy'the; application of heat;, in. order to place the, eggin condition fpr, immediate; consumptionat, theT same timejbeing palatable. 7

Previous attempts have been made to pickle; a. boiled egg after. the shell has been, removed; however, such, pickling will] not preserve: the: egg as istheprimary object-of,thisinvention,-

It. is an; impontant object. of this. invention. to,

provide a, process for preserving an egg;v in, a;

simple and-efilcientmanner. whereupon the pres;- ervation of; the, egg, may; be for a; considerable; period oftimej.

A further objectof,this'inventionis to-vprovide:

, i aprocess ofqpreserying aneg g by overcorning the alkalinity causing deterioration thereof tot-such, aniextentuthatthe egg is maintainedtinits state of preservation imiefinitely.v The process, of: preserving an, egg; under the;

21 present; invention obviously necessitates cooking the; egg in the. raw Staten first with the shell-.

an and, then with: the shell, removeda In the; first: cooking stepv of the egg; with: the shell on, it is; cookeduntil,,, thewhite and the,--3{0lk SLl-b?- stantially; change; to' a solid, although not come pletely. This, cooking; time is usually for; an hou dep i g; up n the r shness and can e tionof theegg The white is transposediinto a, whitespongy massv of; matter; usually having a; li h row i h. inge, while gaseous lm on filten between: the, yolk and. the White forms; a; l kt-c r onfilma aused y thev resi ivthee but, H 11g globules and. the, inner; film itselta Simultaneously, the. yolkis transposed from a; semi. flui d; sta-te.- to; ahall like configuration of semie olid state; ltzhasbeen found thatan: event penetratin m a 11, 1 s pr v d by; steam t; ow re sure; uchs s; akpr ssu 1i m:. five.; to; filiteen gpoundsat 'zlzf? furnishes a bettercookin medium mamahevsteam p rmits: an ev nflumaction; that: reaches. all, points; of i the; egg em;- ciently Without bursting the; shell or disturbing the equilibrium:ofwtheswhite, of. the egg; Hot a ooking s un onomica-l an notsuffici n ly ex? peditious;v while;,water creates aturbulence; at; the necessary; degree of temperature forcooking; the; egg which has, a tendency to, cause bursting; of theishellzor the. like.

After; the: egg has; been; steam cooked; wlthim the sheik. it: has; lost: substantiallyall of. its} cre- 3 ative powers and is in a state to be preserved. In this condition, the yolk still retains its characteristics of magnetic attraction and expulsion, while the egg white has high absorption characteristics and particularly an absorption attraction for water or other liquids. The action of the egg in its raw state in expelling carbonic gas from the yolk through the white, previously referred to, causes the egg to 'havea peculiar obnoxious odor and a black carbonic silt at the rim of the yolk after the cooking operation above set forth. Obviously due to an increase in alkalinity, the older the egg at the time of the first cooking, the greater amount of carbonic silt will be present adjacent the periphery of the yolk. In order to preserve the egg for considerable periods of time, it is necessary that these impurities such as the carbonic silt, and particularly the obnoxious odor, must be completelyeliminated. This necessitates changing both the White and the yolk of the egg to a more solid, firmly. hardened mass'of matter. "3

Internal'cleansing of the egg Subsequent to the first cooking of the egg the shell is removed and the egg is placed in a receptacle containing'water, which causes the egg green coloring caused by the absorption of theimpurities in the substantially solid egg. However, some of the carbonic deposit in the periphery of the yolk is too voluminous to be readily dissolved in plain water, and it is sometimes necessary to add a dissolving agent with the water to expedite the release of the impuri-* ties from the egg. Any conventional dissolving agent such as a lesser concentrated acid is sufficient for this additional dissolving purpose. While water will normally dissolve the waste matter, it is usually slow, and-the acid dissolving agent is utilized to expedite the washing operation. There are several acids which will accomplish this purpose without harm tothe product, particularly acids which are formed under the influence of the organism My Coderma Aceti in its action on'juice or vegetation such as fruit or grain juices, such as /2 to 1%by volume of acetic acid or the like. -The decomposed part of the'egg is quickly soluble in the dissolving agent. Under test, it has been found that the washing or cleansing of the egg usually requires from eight to sixteen hours, according to the age of the egg at the time of the first cooking. During the cleansing or washing process, and the removing of the carbonic impurities therefrom, the egg being sponge-like or semi-solid, retains a substantial amount of the fluid flowing therethrough which must necessarily be removed.

The excess liquid in the egg would, of course,-

eventually be evaporated when the egg was removed from the washing liquid; however, the

extended time required for this evaporationproc ess 'to' take place would be detrimentalbothto the structure of the egg tissue. and the palate ability of the egg. Consequently, an additional stepis necessary in the process to preservethe egg, which consists ofremoving the egg "from 4 the cleansing water and then thoroughly washing on the outer periphery thereof. The egg is then placed in a, suitable vessel having sufficient water to cover the egg to which a, small amount of acid, usually in the order of of 1% (by volume), may be added. The egg is then cooked in the water at a temperature of 200 to 210 degrees Fahrenheit, and maintained at this temperature from two to four hours, according to the fresh ness and qualityof the egg. The most satisfactory results are obtained by first heating the liquid to a temperature of 95 to 100 degrees Fahrenheit, placing the eggs in the liquid, and then increasing the temperature slowly to a temperature of 200 to 210 degrees Fahrenheit. In this manner, the egg is not subjected to a sudden -contraction which may burst the white thereof and result in a consequent loss of the This latter cooking process results in a firmer hardening and greater solidification of both the white and the yolk of the egg, which consequently causes. an elimination of any excess cating that all impurities have been completely removed, and it is in condition for the last step of the process necessary to preserve the egg.

It has been found under test that the composition of the egg is allergic to any metals with few exceptions and if allowed to come into contact with a metal, it will have a tendency to oxi-. diz'e at any point of contact, thus causing a dis coloring or blackening of the egg at point of contact. This discoloring will have a tendency to spread throughout the entire white of the egg. In-view of this characteristic, it has been foundthat the last step of processing the egg should be done in glass crockery or porcelain enamel ware.

stantial discoloring heretofore mentioned.

several conventional methods of maintaining a preserved egg are well known, and it has been found that an egg having been processed-by the cooking steps' heretofore set-forth will bg'maintained in a state of preservation if kept in perfectly sterilized tap water that is reasonably free of minerals and chemicals. Any suitable vegetable oil, vinegar or the like, may be used as a medium for maintaining the processed egg in itspreserved state. Furthermore, it may be ground up and mixed with other foods and preserved in any conventional manner. The processedegg.

may also be placed in a glass container with sufli'e' cient moisture to keep it from drying out, which: is suflicient to maintain it in a'perfe'ct state of preservation. The processed eggLmay-be disposed in the open air and will not spoil over a COIISid--I erable period of time, although it may dry up due;

to the air takingout the moisture therefrom-=2- No refrigeration is necessary and the processed. egg.

can be kept in a state of preservation at any. rearsonable temperature. 1

From the foregoing, it will be-apparent that invention contemplates substantially three stepsfor preserving'an egg in that the egg. is first. cooked with the shell on, the shellis then removed and the egg is washed to eliminate im.- purities, and then a last stage ofcookingis pro-f vided in" order to create-the state ofipreservation;

However, Monel metal is one of the few': exceptions and the egg-may be processed in a" vessel of Monel metal without creating any sub 5 desired. In this manner, a completely preserved egg is provided which will remain in such state for an indefinite length of time, and yet be eatable and palatable for any of various purposes desired.

Changes may be made in the specification without departing from the spirit of the invention within the scope of the following claims as set forth.

I claim:

w 1. The method of preserving eggs which consists of cooking freshly laid unshelled eggs for approximately one hours time until they are changed to a state of substantial solidity, removing the shells of the cooked eggs, washing the shelled eggs by placing in a receptacle containing water for a period of eight to sixteen hours, and then cooking the shelled and washed eggs at a temperature of 200 to 210 degrees Fahrenheit from two to four hours to eliminate any excessive moisture from the washing thereof.

2. The method of preserving eggs which consists of cooking unshelled eggs until the whites thereof have a brownish tinge, removing the shells of the cooked eggs, washing the shelled eggs in water for a period of eight to sixteen hours, and then cooking the shelled and washed eggs at a temperature of 200 to 210 degrees Fahrenheit from two to four hours to eliminate the excessive moisture therein.

3. The method of preserving eggs which consists of cooking unshelled eggs until the whites thereof are changed to a state of substantial solidity, removing the shells of the cooked eggs, washing the shelled eggs by placing in a receptacle containing a dilute acid to eliminate the impurities therefrom, and then cooking the shelled and washed eggs to eliminate the excessive moisture therein.

4. The method of preserving eggs which consists of cooking unshelled eggs until the whites thereof are changed to a state of substantial solidity having a brownish tinge, removing the shells of the cooked eggs, washing the shelled eggs by placing in a receptacle containing a dissolving fiuid consisting of a mixture of water and approximately of 1% of a dilute acid from eight to sixteen hours, and then cooking the shelled and washed eggs at a temperature of 200 to 210 degrees Fahrenheit from two to four hours to eliminate the excessive moisture therein.

5. The method of preserving eggs which consists of cooking unshelled eggs by steam until the whites thereof are changed to a state of substantial solidity having a slight brownish tinge, shelling the cooked eggs, washing the eggs by placing in a receptacle containing a dissolving fluid consisting of a mixture of water and a dilute acid from eight to sixteen hours to eliminate impurities therefrom, and then additionally cooking the shelled and washed eggs at a temperature approximating 210 degrees Fahrenheit from two to four hours to eliminate any excess moisture from the washing thereof.

6. The method of preserving eggs which consists of cooking unshelled eggs by steam at a pressure of from five to fifteen pounds at 212 degrees Fahrenheit for approximately one hour, removing the shells of the cooked eggs, washing the shelled eggs by placing in a receptacle containing a dilute acid from eight to sixteen hours, and

then cooking the shelled and washed eggs in a dilute acid at a temperature of 200 to 210 degrees Fahrenheit from two to four hours to eliminate the excessive moisture therein.

CHARLES ROSS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

The Dictionary of 'C'ookery; 1877, by Cassell, published by Cassell, Petter, Galpin & C0,, London, Paris, and New York, page 201, article entitled Eggs, Pickled.

The Structure and Composition of Foods; 1937, by A. L. Winton et al., vol. III, published by John Wiley and Sons, Inc, New York, page 215.

The American Womans Cook Book; 1945, by R. Berolzheimer, published by the Consolidated Book Publishers, Chicago, pages 372 and 373, article entitled Pickled Eggs. 

1. THE METHOD OF PRESERVING EGGS WHICH CONSISTS OF COOKING FRESHLY LAID UNSHELLED EGGS FOR APPROXIMATELY ONE HOUR''S TIME UNTIL THEY ARE CHANGED TO A STATE OF SUBSTANTIAL SOLIDITY, REMOVING THE SHELLS OF THE COOKED EGGS, WASHING THE SHELLED EGGS BY PLACING IN A RECEPTACLE CONTAINING WATER FOR A PERIOD OF EIGHT TO SIXTEEN HOURS, AND THEN COOKING THE SHELLED AND WASHED EGGS AT A TEMPERATURE OF 200 TO 210 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT FROM TWO TO FOUR HOURS TO ELIMINATE ANY EXCESSIVE MOISTURE FORM THE WASHING THEREOF. 